Help Crystal: A Journey of Resilience

My beautiful sister, Crystal Smith, has had a very rough 10 years. In early 2014, at the age of 35, she was diagnosed with incurable bleeding brain tumors, and told by doctors to “get her affairs in order”. She was a single mother to an eight-year-old daughter, and the news came as a horrible shock. But Crystal refused to simply give up. She and her mom searched, until they found a doctor with the Mayo Clinic who said he might be able to help. So, in the summer of 2014, Crystal and her mom flew to Phoenix, Arizona, for brain surgery. The surgery was successful, and it saved her life, but at a cost. She now uses a walker and has lost her ability to speak clearly. Her mind was completely sound, but the surgery took away those things most of us take for granted.

Still, she managed. Crystal was determined to live her life to the fullest. In 2015, a man swept her off her feet and she married him. He turned out to be the worst of humankind. When his lies were exposed, the marriage ended, and he went to jail. Crystal and her daughter moved out of their house in 2023, and bought a small home, to start all over, again.

In January of 2024, the septic system in their new house backed up and filled the house with sewage. The insurance adjustor came, and the clean-up began. That was when they found asbestos in the walls. They completely gutted the house, down to the timber. Crystal and her daughter were forced to move out of their home and rent a place, while the home was being repaired. The insurance loss amounted to $96,000.00. But after depreciation, insurance paid her $57,500.00 after her deductible of $2500.00.

In April of this year, Crystal was having difficulty breathing. She was not getting enough oxygen in her blood and ended up on a ventilator in the ICU of the local hospital. She began having seizures and was paralyzed on one side of her body. Due to her condition, she was not able to deal with the insurance mess and the contractor. The contractor is an honest man and said he could fix her house for $66,000.00. But Crystal is disabled, and she doesn’t have the extra money to fix her home.

I am asking for donations in any amount to help Crystal get her home back, so when she is discharged from the hospital, she has a home to return to. She deserves a good life, because she is an incredible woman.